Power system voltage regulator



Feb. 9, 1932. F. w. GAY 1,843,921

POWER SYSTEM VOLTAGE REGULATOR Filed Jan. 23. 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet l F/G. Z

M Zia Feb. 9, 1932. w, GAY 1,843,921

POWER SYSTEM VOLTAGE REGULATOR Filed Jan. 23, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 L30 PERCENT [20 LINE //0 PERCENT LJNE CURRENT I N V EN TOR. F/PH ZE/P- W 6/7 Y ATTORNEY Patented Feb. 9, 1932 1,843,921

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FRAZER W. GAY, OI NEWARK, NEW JERSEY POWER SYSTEM VOLTAGE REGULATOR Application filed January 28, 1929. Serial No. 334,539.

This invention relates, generally, to volttive volt ampere output furnished to the sysage regulation, and the invention has refertem upon the occurrence of a fault of such ence, more particularly, to improvements in severity as to materially lower the system voltage regulation of alternating current voltage. Anormal synchronous condenser, if

power supply systems, and consists in prorunning at full load, may be relied upon to viding a novel arrangement employing caautomatically increase lts current output pacity elements for regulating and mainfrom one hundred ercent to approximately taining the-voltage of such a power supply one hundred and fifty percent upon a fifty system at a stable value upon the occurrence percent reduction in system voltage from norof faults so located as to draw a large quanmal, and to reduce its current output to subtity of inductive reactive volt amperes. stantially zero upon a thirty percent increase When the alternating current system alone lnsystem voltage above normal. The curis depended upon for supplying the necesrent output of the static condenser on the sary reactive volt amperes to a fault, the sysother hand will decrease fifty percent upon tem voltage is apt to be reduced below the a fifty percent reduction in system voltage stable point, resulting in synchronous mafrom normal and will increase thirty perchinery falling out of step, the derangement cent upon a thirty percent increase in sysof the system operation and possible injury tem voltage above normal. In other words to apparatus. The employment of static conthe static condenser operates normally at a densers for furnishing the necessary reactive serious disadvantage and fails to materially volt amperes in the event of a fault in an aid the system in the event of a fault. alternating current power system has here- The inherent advantage of the synchrotofore been very limited due to the inherent nous machine is increased if a modern large characteristic of a static condenser to autohigh speed exciter and voltage regulator is matically reduce its inductive reactive volt employed in conjunction therewith, for in ampere output at the very time when'such this case the synchronous machine may be output is most needed, i. e. upon a drop in forced to supply up to three times normal cursystem voltage. Also such a condenser autorent upon a fifty percent reduction in voltmatically increases its inductive reactive volt age from normal and to reduce its current ampere output at the very time when such output to substantially zero upon a forty output is a detriment to the system, i. e. percent use in voltage above normal. An

upon an increase in system voltage. adjustment to the high current value can be Synchronous condensers have generally accomplished in approximately two seconds been used in place of static condensers for after a fault occurs and the reduction of the supplying inductive reactive volt amperes to current to zero value can be accomplished in a fault even though the losses of synchroless than three seconds after the fault clears. nous condensers are many times the losses of It is the principal object of this invention to equivalent kva. static condensers and therovide an arrangement whereby static concosts of synchronous condensers, including densers are satisfactorily employed for reg- HI larger and more expensive buildings, cranes, ulating system voltage, which condensers are 9 starting equipment, buses and switchboards, adapted to have their impressed voltage inare as much or greater than the costs of creased upona decrease in system voltage equivalent static condensers. from normal as the result of a system fault Notwithstanding the much greater operand to also provide means for protecting such ating and maintenance costs of the synchrostatic condensers as well as the system from nous condenser, and its occasional prolonged excessive instantaneous voltage rise upon the outage for repairs, the synchronous condensremoval of a system fault. er nevertheless is preferred to the static con- It is well known that the best grades of denser largely because of its inherent and solid insulation in present use and especially i) automatic faculty of increasing its inducpaper insulation, if of suflicient mechanical iii) a resist a resist c is of ch excess vol occasional flailut ovi ion as been made in static con l 1 s the best design to sci rs'tantly out of service that particular section of the capacitor that fails, and the design is such that this small section easilv and cheaply replaced. when on l failure does not in any e continuous and ion as remaining good sections ()ther objects of time more particn clearly nnderstc: tailed description The inventimi .5 tied. in accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a Wiring diagram of the novel arrangement of this inventio i 'ustrated as reg-- ulating the voltage in a three phase alter nating current system;

Fig, 52 is pacitor ice .nnicyed nvoltage in course to be c ures will result,

men, not at this umerated, will be follow detic View oia cavei arrange ment of l; a

Fig, 3 is a i ransrormer and condens a capacitor de vice; Fig, i a. the operation of the novel is invention;

5 is a w i of modified arrangement I vn pl i method or d: i the ineinaco' re describe-o,

ding parts.

V- 8 of the said "is power lin, connect cl es 5 n I messes circuit of lead 8 and a resistance is illustrated as connected in the circuit of lead 9. 'With circuit breaker 12 closed and donble pole contactor 13 open, the capacitor devices 4, 5 and 6 are connected in series by leads 7, 11 and 8 and circuit breaker 12 across phase leads 2 and 3. With circuit breaker 12 and double pole contactor 13 both closed, capacitor devices 4, 5 and 6 are connected in parallel across phase leads 2 and 3. In this case, the connection for device 4 is from phase lead 3, by way of lead 7 through device 4 and lead 8 through resistance 14 to phase lead 2. The connection for device 5 is from phase lead 3, lead 7, by way of lead 9 through resistance 15 back to lead 7, through device 5 to lead 8, and by way of lead 8 through resistance 14 to lead 2. The connection for device 6 is from phase lead 3, lead 7, by way of lead 9 through resistance 15 back to lead 7 through device 6 to lead 11, and from lead 11 through lead 8 to phase lead 2.

Three capacitor devices 16, 17 and 18 are similar to capacitor devices 4, 5 and 6 and are adapted to be similarly connected to the power line phase leads 1 and 2. Likewise, capacitor devices 19, 20 and 21, also similar to devices 4, 5 and 6, are adapted to be similarly connected to the power line phase leads 1 and 3. Since the lead connections and associated apparatus of ca acitor devices 16 to 21 are similar to that 0 devices 4, 5 and 6,

1 like reference numerals are employed in cononl 7 one of them namely, ca acitor device 4 4- will be described in detail. e capacitor device 4, as shown in Fig. 2, comprises a transformer 23 having the ends of its primary winding 24 connected by leads 25 and 26 to the terminals 27 and 28 of the ca acitor device, The secondary winding 30 o trans- 23 has its ends connected by leads 3] and 32 to a condenser 33. The primary winding 24 of transformer 23 is divided into two sections as shown in Fig. 3 and these sections are connected by a lead 34. These sections of the primary Winding encircle enlargeol portions 35 and 36 of the transformer core 37. The secondary winding 30 encircles reduced portion 38 of the core 37.

Circuit breakers 12 are adapted to be controlled by any suitable contact making voltmeters adjusted so that these circuit breakers normally close, for example, at one hundred percent line voltage and open at one hundred and three percent voltage. Likewise, double pole contactors 13 are controlled by suitable contact making voltmeters such that when "Tie system line voltage drops to eighty perce: of normal, these contactors are closed and when the line voltage rises to ninety percent of normal, these contactors open. he use of contact makin voltmeters, such as a Westinghouse C. P. re ay for controlling circuit breakers and contactors, are well known to those skilledin the art. In Fig. 1, the hook-up ofthese contact making voltmeters is illustrated, by way of example, in connection with the circuit breaker 12 and contactor 13 associated with capacitor devices 19, 20 and 21. In this figure this circuit breaker 12 has an operating coil 55 which is adapted to be supplied with energizing current from a sup ly line 56. A contact making voltmeter 5? has a transformer 58 with its primary connected across leads 78 and its secondary connected to ener ize the operatin coil of a relay 59. Thus, t is contact making voltmeter 57 may be adjusted so that when the voltage across leads 7-8 is normal, the relay 59 closes a circuit through operating coil 55, causin circuit breaker 12 to be closed, whereas, i the voltage across leads 78 rises to 103% voltage, relay 59 will open, thereby causing contactor 12 to 0 en. Also, contactor 13 has an operating coi 61 adapted to be supplied with energizing current from a supply line 62. A contact making voltmeter 63 havin a transformer 64 and a relay 65 is adapts to control the sup ply of energizing current to operating coil 61. The primary winding of transformer 64 is connected across phase leads 78 and the secondary winding of this transformer supplies energizin current to the operating coil of relay 65. lontact making voltmeter 63 may be adapted, for example, to close the circuit through operating coil 61 when the system line voltage drops to normal, and when the line voltage rises to voltage this circuit is again opened by the open ing of relay 65. The circuit brea ers 12 and contactors 13 associated with capacitor devices 4, 5 and 6 and 16, 17 and 18 are adapted to be operated in the same manner as the circuit breaker 12 and contactor 13 associated with capacitor devices 19, 20 and 21. In

.many locations a multiplicity of the novel voltage regulating arrangements of this in vention Wlll be installed in connection with a single three phase power line each of which installations will be equipped with circuit breakers 12. In such cases, the circuit breakers 12 of one installation will normally be adapted to operate at a voltage range slightly different from each of the others. Thus in oneinstallation this circuit breaker may close at a hundred percent line voltage and open at one hundred and three percent line voltage, while in the next consecutive installation the circuit breaker may close at ninety nine and open at one hundred and two percent normal voltage.

Disturbances tending to seriously reduce the line voltage of the system are usually caused by short circuits and such short circuits usually clear up in from one to ten seconds. Such short circuits do not usually disturb the system stability unless they reduce the system Voltage below eighty ercent of norma since at eighty percent t e synchronizing power of the system is approxi mately two-thirds of normal; but at sixty percent of normal voltage the synchronizing power is not much better than one-third normal and in general at so low a synchronizing power the system stabilit 'will break down. t may be assumed that t e critical stability range is from sixty to eighty rcent voltage, the system stability being sa e above eighty percent sustained voltage and lost below sixty percent sustained voltage.

In operation, with normal line voltage impresse on the power sup ly system leads 1, 2 and 3, i. e. during norms operation of the device, circuit breakers 12 are closed and double pole contract rs 13 are open. Under these conditions, the capacitor devicesl to 6, 16 to 18 and 1%- "o 21 are connected by leads 7', 11 and 8 in se es across their respective phase leads 2 2, and l3, causing each of these devices to absorb one third of the line voltage. Transformers 23 are so designed that with one-third normal line voltage thus impressed across their primary terminals, the portions 35 and 36 of the core 23 are one-third saturated and reduced portion 88 is one-half saturated.

If now, as the result, for example, of the occurrence of a line fault, the line voltage should drop to say two-thirds normal value, the contactors 13 will close thereby connecting the capacitor devices to 6, 16 to 18 and 19 to 2i. i allcl across their re" spec'tive phase lead Since each the trans- "formers 23 now has thirds normal. voltage impressed ac oss its terminals, the portions 35 and the core will he twothirds saturated nd reduced portion 38 is saturated. .11 is impressed volt-- age the capacitor device deliver their maximum capacity effect. since the impressed voltage on each transformer 23 is now twice that obtained whe he system is operating normal voltage capacity current of eachcapacitor device is twice that at normal voltage and each set oi three capacitor devices are in multiple, the total capacity our" will be six times normal, thereby serving to raise the system voltage above seventy percent which will he suliicient to carry the system through the critical period. line breaker will operate to rupture short cir cuit and the system voltage will then tend to rise rapidly to a high value. 'lhis rise isill! 'vice of this invention returns to normal operation. The capacitor devices are saturated, however, and the magnetizing current in primary windings 24 will increase and cancel some of the capacity current produced by the .condensers so that an excessive momentary rise in line voltage is prevented. For further increase in line voltage the cores 35 and 36 of the transformers will saturate and the transformer coils 24 will act as loading coils to hold down line voltage.

In the graph of Fig. 4, the percent of system line voltage is plotted as ordinates and the percent of line current taken by the arrangement of this invention is plotted as abscissa. Curve A shows the current taken by the arrangement during normal operation of the system with the capacitors in series across each pair of phase leads. Curve B shows the current voltage curve for the arrangement of this invention when the capacitor devices are connected in parallel, i. e. when contactors 13 and circuit breakers 12 are closed. Curve D shows the external characteristic of a synchronous condenser operating under normal full load field and curve C shows the external characteristic of the same synchronous condenser operating under maximum field which is several times normal.

Resistances 14 and 15 act to limit the current in the capacitor devices in the event a sustained short circuit is suddenly removed causing the line voltage to rise above normal and the saturation of core portions 35. These resistances may be omitted if desired in which event the saturation of the transformers 23 alone will be depended upon to retain the current within a reasonable value.

It will be noted that the arrangement of this invention acts automatically to prevent an excessive rise in voltage when a short circuit is suddenly removed from the system after the generators have built up their field in an effort to maintain voltage. The condensers 33 are protected against dangerous voltages by the saturation of the, transformer core portion 38. The saturation of core sections 35 and 36 serves to cause primary windings 24 to act as reactors for limiting voltage rises in excess of normal.

Owing to the inherent characteristics of the device of this invention its capacity effect can be obtained or eliminated in an'extremely short time which is substantially from onethird to one-fourth the period now considered standard for such operation.

Also there is no tendency of the capacitor devices to fall out of step and thereby contribute to the system distress as is'possible with synchronous condensers. Often, under severe system disturbances when the synchronous condensers fall out of step they cause a failure of system stability which would not have occurred if the condensers had remained in step. This tendency to fall out of step is enormously increased by over excitation and at very high field strengths these machines will fall out under relatively slight disturbances.

It will be obvious to one skilled in the art that many different modifications of this invention may be used and it is desired, therefore, not to limit the invention to the particular structure shown. For example, it is possible to omit the transformers 23 and to employ condensers alone. This is illustrated in ig. 5 wherein condensers 40, 41 and 42 during normal operation are connected in series across phase leads 23, and the closure of contactor 13 acts to place them in multiple upon a system voltage disturbance. In this arrangement however, the system is not protected against the flow of large instan taneous capacity currents upon a sudden rise in system voltage until after either switch 12 or contactor 13 operates. Furthermore, the over-voltage suffered by the condensers may be so great as to seriously damage them.

It is evident furthermore, that it is not essential to use the contactor 13 in the preferred form of the invention. Thus, each transformer may be provided with a tap changing device 43 having a movable bridge 44 and contacts 45 to 50, as illustrated in Fig. 6. All of the transformers 23 may normally operate in multiple across the power line phase leads and any desired ratio between primary windings 24' and secondar windings 30 obtained by operating t is tap changer. Tap changer 43 may be operated by hand. It is obvious that the novel arrangement of this invention is also applicable to a single phase system as well as to any system having a plurality of hases.

As many changes could e made in the above construction and many apparently widely different embodiments of this invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

What is claimed is 1. In combination, an electric power distribution system and an arran ement for regulating the voltage of said istribution system, said arrangement comprising, condensers adapted to be electrically connected to said system, and transformer 'means interposed between said condensers and said systemfor impressing voltage on said condensers, and means ada ted to function to effect an increase in the induced voltage impressed by said transformer means upon said condensers on the occurrence of a drop in system voltage, said transformer means being adapted to saturate and the inductive reactive current absorbed thereby serving to counteract the capacity reactive current of the arrangement should a sudden rise in system voltage above a redetermined value cur during the functioning of said means.

2. In combination, an electric power distribution system and a device for taking ca pacity current from said system, said device comprising, a plurality of capacitors, transformer means arranged to connect said capacitors to said system, turn ratio changing means for increasing or decreasing the transformer turn ratio existing between said system and said connected capacitors, said transformer means having cores so proportioned that, for the maximum magnetic flux setting of said turn ratio changing means, increments of system voltage increasing above and decreasing below a desired critical value will cause the capacity current taken by said de- Vice to decrease 3. In combination, an electric power dis tribution system and an arrangement for regulating the voltage of said distribution system, said arrangement comprising, a plurality of capacitors adapted to be electrically I connected to said system, and transformer means interposed between said capacitors and said system for impressing voltage on said capacitors, and switch means acting on closao ing to connect each of said transformer means and its connected capacitor in parallel with the remaining transformer means and their capacitors, said switch acting on opening to place said transformer means and their connected capacitors in series relation, said trans former means having cores so proportioned that during the parallel connection of said transformer means and capacitors, any variation in system voltagevabove or below a predetermined critical value will cause the capacity current taken by said arrangement to decrease.

In testimony, that I claim the invention 'set forth above I have hereunto set my hand this 21st day of January, 1929.

FRAZER W. GAY. 

